We’ve been working on getting the garden in.  It’s been more of a challenge due to the rainy weather.  Our other challenges are deer and woodchucks which led to putting in about 300 feet of deer fencing. In the photos above my sister-in-law Dawn and I drill a hole for a fence post with our awesome “earthquake” digging machine… 32 holes later we were done; I can’t imagine digging them by hand! While all of this building and planting was going on the peonies simply bloomed by themselves.

Yes, more rhubarb!

Fruit Base:

4 cups of fresh rhubarb (this will be about 8 stalks)

1 cup of sugar

2 tablespoons of corn starch

1 cup of water

1 teaspoon of vanilla

The rhubarb should be cut up into ½ inch pieces and then placed in an 8 x8 baking dish. In a small saucepan combine the sugar, corn starch and water and bring these ingredients to a boil. Once this begins to boil, add the vanilla, remove from the heat and pour over the rhubarb. Stir this to evenly coat the rhubarb.

 Crisp Topping:

 ½ cup flour

½ cup quick cooking rolled oats

½ cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of salt

5 tablespoons of butter

Mix together the flour, oats, sugar and cinnamon. Stir in the butter and mix thoroughly. Spread over the rhubarb mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees until rhubarb is cooked and bubbling.  Estimated time is about 45 minutes.

Sunflower Farm Rhubarb & Berry Jam

So far I’ve been able to make two batches of rhubarb & berry jam. I’m hoping to make a couple more so that we’ll have enough to last us until next spring.  Below is the recipe. Enjoy!

Sunflower Farm Rhubarb & Berry Jam

3 pounds of rhubarb, sliced into 1/2-inch pieces (I find if you have varying size stalks there are usually 7-8 stalks per pound. When sliced into pieces this was 11-12 cups).
1 cup of fresh strawberries packed tight. You can use frozen if necessary.

1 cup of fresh raspberries packed tight. Again, you can use frozen if necessary.
1 cup of no sugar added apple juice
5 ½  cups sugar (depending on how sweet the rhubarb is I sometimes cut this to 5 cups)
juice from one lemon
pinch of salt

 Put the rhubarb strawberries, raspberries and apple juice in a large pot.  Cook, covered over medium heat stirring often until everything is tender. This will take 10-15 minutes.

 Add the sugar, lemon juice and salt and cook uncovered until the mixture begins to thicken.  The time can vary. The last batch I made took close to 45 minutes to get to the correct consistency. There are a couple of ways to tell if it has jelled or “jammed” enough. Using a candy thermometer the temperature should register around 220 degrees. If you don’t have a candy thermometer you can place a small saucer in the freezer and when you want to test the jam simply put a spoonful on the cold saucer. The jam will thicken considerably when it hits the cold and has close to the consistency you expect from jam. 

 Watch out as you are cooking this. You’ll need to stir often to avoid scorching.

 When the jam is cooked put into clean jars.  The recipe makes 6 cups of jam so plan the number of jars you need accordingly.   If the jam is kept in the refrigerator and eaten in a couple of months you shouldn’t have to process it.  I actually processed my jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes because I am making several batches to last us until next year.  If you are interested in processing or canning the jam please refer to appropriate resources on canning and preserving.

Rhubarb!

Although it has been a rainy spring and we haven’t planted anything in the garden yet we’ve already managed to do a little gathering.  I cut one last vase of tulips and picked about ten pounds of rhubard.  I see a pie, jam and some rhubard sorbet in the works tomorrow.  I’ll post the recipes soon. My mother and our neighbor also dug a few bags of dandelion greens. I don’t eat them but maybe I should since all my life I’ve heard they are a spring tonic and will help you live to be a hundred! There maybe some truth in this (although the estimate is a bit off) as almost everyone who makes this claim has lasted into their late 90′s!